RECAP: Last chapter Syaoran and Sakura drove their way to the museum, looking for the clowcards. They walked to a town, found the carnival, and stayed the night in a hotel. Kero comes in and scares them. They go to the carnival the next day and find out that the clowcards are prizes for a triathalon contest of archery, tobogganing, and horseriding. So where we come in, Syaoran just told Sakura she’s entered in the contest.
Chapter 8: Time Trouble Doubled
"I’m entered in what?" Sakura asked again.
Syaoran finally stopped and turned around. "The contest was in pairs, we need two people for the toboggan race, and the horse thing."
Sakura tried to think about this. "Do I have to do the archery? I have never shot a bow and arrow before."
Syaoran hung his head and nodded. "You need to shoot, too. Come, we have to get your bow."
Sakura walked after him, a bit panickstricken. He said a few words to the man behind the counter, then handed her a smaller bow. "This shouldn’t be too hard. Just think of it as....um....This shouldn’t be too hard." He repeated himself.
Sakura held the bow, then turned it upside down, completely confused. Syaoran stepped in warily and put it upright. "Come on, there’s a target practice somewhere over here."
Sakura tried to follow Syaoran through the crowded pathway, the overwhelming amount of people kept seperating them, making Syaoran have to stop and wait for her. The ground was muddy from the snow melting under everyone’s feet. Sakura got cut off by a large woman and her several kids. Syaoran stopped again, getting frustrated. He shouted over the crowd."Here, hold on to my shirt, er something."
Sakura didn’t have time to think about his command, as he started walking again. Sakura grabbed a peice of his outest sweatshirt and held tight. The walk quickened immensly, as Syaoran forced and pushed his way through the crowd, Sakura apologizing as they sped by.
Finally they reached the target place, a large group people standing in a line, shoulder to shoulder, shooting at various painted hay stacks. Older woman dominated the competition, none of them looking like they had any extraordinary skill. "Antique collectors." He muttered.
Syaoran stopped walking, satisfied where he was standing. Sakura let go of his shirt and walked up to his side. She watched the other people uncertainly. "Are you sure I should shoot this around other people? I mean, who knows where I’ll shoot."
Syaoran shrugged. "I’ll make sure you don’t hurt anyone." Syaoran picked up his bow and put an arrow on the string, then brought it up to his mouth and pulled back. He closed one eye and looked straight down the arrow, the tip of the arrow blending into the red bullseye he aimed for. He released his two fingers from the string, and the arrow shot out, going in a direct line with its speed and perfect release. The arrow landed on the edge of the red, just near the the bullseye. Syaoran cursed under his breath, then looked at Sakura. "Okay. Hold it like this-" He held up his bow to demonstrate.
Sakura held up her bow and copied his form, standing sideways to the target. She looked at him for more instructions. He lowered his bow and grabbed an arrow from the stack he had thrown on the ground. "Put the arrow like this, so the different colored feather is facing you."
Sakura put the arrow in, and looked up for approval. Syaoran looked at the feathers and shook his head. "No, the different color-" Sakura flip the arrow so the tip was facing the wrong way. "-Like this." Syaoran grabbed her arrow and fixed it, holding it in place till she clicked it in place. "Okay. Bring it up like this, hold it steady and look straight down the arrow." Sakura wrapped her whole hand around the last string. "No, only two fingers to pull back the string."
Sakura nodded and pulled the string back, the weight against her arm hardly resisting her. She released, the arrow went flatly into the air and fell short of the target by about fifteen feet. Sakura looked to Syaoran with nervous embaressment. "Did I do something wrong?"
Syaoran, trying to hold back the amused smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, took her arrow from her and pulled it back. He laughed to himself and put his pinky on the string, and was still able to pull it back. "I think your bow is a little weak." He started walking towards the counter, which could hardly be seen through the mass crowd of people. Sakura shivered as a cold gust of wind blew through her layers of clothing.
"Who are these people? It’s freeezing, why would they want to come." Sakura said to herself. She ran after Syaoran and clutched to the back of his shirt. He pulled her along, and the got to the counter quickly. Syaoran asked the man for another bow, and then traded and gave Sakura the new bow.
"See if you can pull that back." He said.
Sakura took the bow and pulled back, her arm shaking slightly under the pressure. Syaoran pulled on her arm. "Kay, let’s go. We only have another half hour to practice, then the carnival officially opened."
Sakura scambled to get her stuff and hurried after him. He was already loading his arrow when she got back to their shooting site. He shot the arrow, and seemingly pleased enuogh as it went cleanly into the bullseye, then waited for Sakura to shoot again.
Sakura concentrated and brought her bow up, remembering everything Syaoran said from last time. Sakura released her bow, her arms and shoulders aching, and watched the arrow narrowly miss the target as it flew in the air, a foot above the top of the haybale. Syaoran nodded. "Bring the string back to your mouth."
Sakura nodded, a bit disappointed that she didn’t get any praise for her improvement, but reminding herself she was with Syaoran. She brought the bow up and shot off her mouth, the arrow hitting the low left corner. Sakura smiled and looked back up. Syaoran looked at the arrow after hitting another bullseye himself. "Keep your arm steady, or your arrow will shoot to the sides."
Sakura nodded again, and looked at the target, a bit dismayed, before shooting again. Her arrow hit a bit more to the middle, but still a ways from the bullseye. Sakura silently praised herself for her quick improvement. Syaoran, however, became more impatient. "Arm steady, like this-" He shot again, a perfect shot hitting smoothly next to his other bullseye arrows.
Sakura sighed and brought her bow, when a thought hit her just as she released. Her arrow went a good ten feet over the target. Syaoran looked quickly up from his arrow, and his critical remark was cut short. Sakura shoved her hand down in both coat pockets. "WHERE’S KERO!?"
Syaoran tried to hide the pleased look on his face. "I don’t know."
Sakura looked around for any signs of the yellow animal, but saw none. Another thought struck her. The elephant ear stand! Sakura started jogging that way, forgetting to tell Syaoran. He grabbed her bow from the ground and lumbered off after her.
Sakura pushed her way through the flock of people, more forceful than she would usually be. I have been around Syaoran too long. She tried saying ‘excuse me’ more, but figured it was useless with all the noise going on around, anyway. She saw the elephant ear sign ahead, and surged ahead. Kero is such a pain sometimes!
All of the sudden an electric shock went through Sakura, and everything around her froze. There was no sound, and yet the silence was remarkably loud. Sakura looked around frantically past the statue like people for Syaoran. "Syaoran!" She yelled, the yell having no echo but sounding rather dull. She heard movement in front of her, and she ran and ducked through the people. To her hope, she found Syaoran, pushing through people as well.
"Sakura! It’s the time card! Something’s using the timecard!" Syaoran said as they made their way to each other.
Sakura looked with a new fear at the frozen time around them. "The time card!?" She repeated him. Her voice no longer sounded dull, but had a fast echo and the sound did not seem to go with her mouth.
Syaoran went pale as he heard her. "We are skipping into the future!" His voice carried the same ringing echo, which was speeding up with the seconds passing.
Sakura shreiked as the ground below them moved, but she remained still. The people and earth around them moved, quicker and quicker. Sakura looked at all this, terrified. She caught glimpses of Syaoran through the blur of people. I have to get to him! Sakura shut her eyes, in fear that the ground would keep her from moving, and jumped as far as she could go from a standstill. In midjump, she bounced off something solid and landed on the ‘ground’. She opened her eyes and saw she was now next to Syaoran, who also sat on the ‘ground’ rubbing his elbow.
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.
Syaoran nodded and pushed himself back on his feet. He held out his hand and pulled Sakura up, then looked at her gravely. "This is using a whole lot of my energy."
Sakura looked at him worriedly. "Don’t leave! You have to stay awake, Syaoran! You have to!" She said desperatly. What is happening?Is this my end?
As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The teeth grinding halt caused Sakura’s knees to buckle. Syaoran, apparently not as strong as Sakura, fell on the ground. The people around them moved like normal, oblivious to anything that had happened. The sun was to the west now, near setting. Sakura kneeled down and spoke to Syaoran. "Are you okay?"
Syaoran opened his eyes and looked up into hers. "I stayed awake?"
Sakura smiled. "Apparently." She lended a hand and pulled him up to his feet, a large flock of butterflies migrating south to north in her stomach as their hands touched. She forced her silly feeling aside and tried to focus. "How far did we go in the future?" Sakura asked, looking around.
Syaoran opened his closed eyes again. "Hard to tell." He walked to a nearby tree and leaned on it, trying to conserve his energy.Sakura followed him, concern written all over her face.
She was about to express her concern for his well being when something else very curious caught her eye. She watched a very fimiliar person run by in the distance, her mouth agape. Syaoran noticed Sakura’s intense look of amazement. He almost jumped at what he saw when he followed her gaze.
"Sakura!" He exclaimed.
Sakura nodded, not taking her eyes off the running girl. "I know!"
In the distance, another Sakura ran with her bow under her arm. Tears were visible even at this distance, as she sprinted away. Another figured appeared from behind a building, all too fimiliar chesnut hair, holding a large tall bow. He shouted after the fleeing Sakura. "Go ahead! You should have listened to me! See if I care, the cards are as good as Kara’s anyway!"
Syaoran snapped awake very quickly. Part of him surged in anger against this uncaring, rude copy of himself. What does he think he’s doing!? She’s crying for Heaven’s sake! Sakura 2 ran out of sight, and Syaoran 2 turned and disappeared behind the building. After a few moments of silence, Sakura addressed Syaoran.
"How is there two? I mean-two of us?" She asked, still trying to work the problem out in her head as she spoke it.
"I have no idea! We-us-you and I-we skipped time. I don’t understand how two of us could have stayed here! Unless...." Syaoran frowned and concentrated. Sakura watched him curiously. After he did not speak for a while, curiousity forced Sakura to ask.
"Unless what?"
"Well, it’s highly unprobable, but they did it before so...Remember when the rope card undid my shoelace in gym? Well it worked together with another card-it combined with the invisible, so we couldn’t see it." Syaoran paused and yawned. Sakura quickly jumped in.
"So you think the time card ganged up with something else?" She paused, thinking. "But what would do this? What would keep two of us behind time and two of us ahead?"
Syaoran shook his head. "I don’t know. The twin card, maybe? Our voices echoed, it might of just been the time change, I’m not sure, but then again, it might have been our copy being made. I couldn’t see you for a while, inbetween the moving people, so I can’t tell you for sure."
Sakura nodded, his theory making sense. "I think you are right. But how are we-well how are we going to live with clones? How will we ever undo this?"
Syaoran didn’t answer, obviously thinking the same thing. After a while, he spoke. "Listen, we are going to have to win those cards. I am not sure what happened with those-those other two, but we better find out. If they are thinking about forfeiting the match, we have to go in as substitutes for them." He looked towards the direction Sakura2 went. "I will go follow you, you go find me-the other me. If we go after ourselves, we might freak out seeing ourselves. Try not to be seen, but if you are it isn’t a total disaster. Got it?"
Sakura nodded. Syaoran took his weight off the tree and stood a bit wobbly. Sakura looked at him sympathetically. She grabbed his arm and closed her eyes, concentrating deeply. Syaoran flinched, not expecting this, and looked at Sakura with a mild curiosity. What is she doing? He felt a warmth surge through him, his whole body feeling lighter. He no longer felt sleepy and exhausted. Sakura opened her eyes and backed up, grinning. "Thank me later." She said, spun and disappeared into the crowd before he could orient himself enough to speak back. He watched her disappear in a bit of bewilderment, then walked more springedly in the direction he had seen Sakura2 go.
Sakura jogged for a while, then froze, spotting Syaoran. I think that’s the other Syaoran. He looks pretty angry-when I left Syaoran wasn’t in any particular angry mood-Yes that definitely is Syaoran2, he has a bow. Sakura knelt by a shrub and watched him. Syaoran2 was shooting his arrow rapidly, cursing rather loudly as he continued to miss horribly. His usual scowl was upgraded into an angry jumble of emotions. Sakura felt sorry for him, but could not interfere. A younger girl with bright red hair walked over to Syaoran2. He didn’t acknowledge her presnce, but continued his arrow shooting.
Sakura crawled stealthly to a closer spot, a bit less hidden but still good enough. The girl spoke to Syaoran2, her voice was loud. That’s good. Now I can hear her.
"You didn’t need to be so hard on your partner." The girl said bluntly.
Syaoran2 lowered his bow, a cold sweat now across his forehead. He stared down at the ground, anger and sorrow combined in his deep eyes. "You and Keith should keep your noses out of other people’s business."
Kara shrugged, unnchanged. "Didn’t look like your archery lesson was going along that well." The girl grinned and lowered her voice a touch. "I know, I understand. Jealousy’s a wicked thing, huh? You feel horrible about yelling at her now."
Syaoran2 slammed the bow into the ground, on the verge of a yell. "I’m not jealous of him! I just am angry with him for telling her to shoot like that. You would have no idea how much those cards mean to us."
"Guilting me into giving you my hard worked for prize isn’t going to get you anywhere. We are skilled archers, we work hard to prepare for competitions like this. If anyone deserves them, we do." Kara moved closer to Syaoran2, talking in almost a whisper. "You know, you’re pretty cute. I am myself, no? I can always get my way with Keith, I am sure I can get you some of the cards."
Sakura’s eyes widened from behind the bush, this scene vulgur to her poor butterflies, who were sitting dormat in her stomach. Kara slid an arm around Syaoran2’s waiste, which he pulled away immediately. Sakura watched angerly, clenching her hand in a fist. She grabbed a rock from behind her and threw it hard. She smiled with satisfaction as the rock banged Kara in the shoulder.
Syaoran2 now looked at Kara with pure disgust. "You and Keith don’t deserve anything, except maybe each other." Syaoran2 seemed to be biting his tongue to keep from saying anything meaner to her, and turned around to leave.
Kara smirked. "What are you going to do? Apologize? That’s pretty low, she cost you the competition. No offense, but you aren’t a very good shooter yourself." She nodded at the few arrows, spread on the corners of the large target.
Syaoran2 glowered, obviously thinking about what was he going to do. Sakura had had enough. She figured she would interfere the tiniest bit. They kept arguing behind her as she crawled around them, not very aware of what they said. Once she got a safe distance away, she walked into the crowd of people, careful to stay on the side where Syaoran2 was sure to see her.
After she had walked by, she quickly dodged away, trying to avoid having to see him. She ran a ways until stopped. She turned and saw him rushing through the crowd, away from her. She then turned and looked around for a fimiliar landmark so she could find Syaoran (1) and tell him what she had heard.
___
Syaoran stretched across the branch he was on silently, looking down at Sakura2. He rarely got to watch her like this, and was enjoying it immensely. Wow, she is very pret-Kero broke his train of thought as he came flying out of Sakura2’s pocket. They were in a secluded place, so Kero could move and speak freely.
"That no good scum, I shoulda finished him off when I had the chance he-"
"Kero, quit blaming him. I completly ruined our chances for the clow card!" Sakura2 said, her tears subsiding.
Kero shook his little head violently. "Don’t let him make you think that, Sakura. I heard him trying to teach you to shoot. He was way to harsh. I think if you even split his arrow in two on the bullseye, he still wouldn’t praise your efforts. How were you to know Keith was trying to cheat?"
"Kero, don’t blame it on anyone else. I am just too naiive. I shouldn’t trust everyone so deeply, but I can’t help it, it’s my nature. If no one tried to see the good side of people, what horrible lives everyone would live!"
Kero sighed, staying silent for a while. "I forgot how wise you could be. You have always been such an optimist."
Sakura2 laughed and she wiped her tears off on her sleeve. "Come on, let’s get out of this snow, I am freezing standing still!" Sakura started walking away, Kero buzzing along side her.
"That brat better apologize to you..." Kero said, as the voices faded off.
Syaoran sighed and though about what they had said. It’s so strang to hear Sakura’s opinions like this. Syaoran couldn’t help but feel he had invaded her privacy-both Sakura 1 and 2. Another terrifying thought came upon him. I wonder what I said! Oh no! Syaoran started hurriedly down the tree when another noise made him freeze and pin himself against the tree trunk behind him.
Syaoran2 came running by. He looked down at the tracks in dismay, then rested against the tree for a moment. A confused look came on his face, and he looked around parinoidly. If anyone was to find me in this tree, it’d be myself! Syaoran thought as he stayed still as possible against the tree. Syaoran2 looked around once more, then, shaking his head in surrender, looked back at the tracks in the snow and followed after them. He hopped down off the tree and looked towards the carnival. How am I ever going to find Sakura? She is hidden as well. Syaoran’s attention went to full as a twig cracked behind him. He swung around and looked, not sure what he would find.
Sakura (1) hid behind the large tree, her heart pounding fast. Is that Syaoran 1 or 2? How am I going to figure this out? Sakura tried to think of any differences the Syaorans had, but could think of none. I just have to brave this one. She popped out from behind the tree. Syaoran’s attention immediatly followed. He eyed her suspiciously.
"Have you seen Kero?" He asked her.
Sakura frowned and looked at him suspiciously. If I say I lost him, how do I know they didn’t find him in the period we were gone? "Not lately." The suspicious look came right off Syaoran’s face.
"Traveled through the future, right? We have to come up with some signal to know which is which." Syaoran said.
Sakura nodded, releived. "I couldn’t think of any differences." She brought herself back to reality. "I think we are losing right now. Sakura didn’t do too well or something, and from the looks of it, you aren’t going to do too well either." Sakura left out the whole soap opera scandal, not wanting to put herself in more emberassment then the other one of her had probably caused. I hope I didn’t say anything stupid!
A loud intercom buzzed on, crackling with its horrible quality sound. "Set twelve number two-Liza Baker, you are up. Set thirteen, number two, Syaoran Li, you are on deck." The intercome cracked back off.
Syaoran started walking towards the buildings and the wide open target shooting. Sakura walked beside him. "How are we sure the other Syaoran isn’t going to show up?" Sakura asked.
"I am not sure, but if you are right, he won’t do well? I’d better shoot for him in that case. You have to cover me, if you find him, pull him over, keep him distracted." Syaoran answered.
Sakura again inquired. "How? You know yourself-you are always so determined. I am not sure I’ll be able to stop you so easily."
Syaoran thought as he walked. Just kiss him or something, that would keep me in one place. "I dunno, come up from behind and hold his arms behind his back."
Sakura could not hold him back any longer, Syaoran jogged off and got a bow. Sakura hoped with all her might she would not run into the other Syaoran. Oh no! What do I do if I see Sakura!? I guess I would just hide. Sakura made her way through the crowd, trying to get a good watching site. She could see Syaoran1 over by the gate, waiting for the person in front of him to finish shooting. The woman’s shots were good, but nervousness kept her from keeping a steady aim. Her last arrow shot, she hung her head and walked away, not a single bullseye out of the ten shots. 375 was her total score.
Syaoran checked in with the gate keeper, then calmly walked to the line of shooting. He brought his large bow up to the corner of his mouth, taking care to aim well. This bow is so cold. Syaoran thought, as he held the unpracticed bow in his arm. Too bad I didn’t get to practice. He released his fingers, the arrow streaking towards the target with remarkable speed. It hit the bullseye edge hard. A judge walked over to the target to see what point it landed on. He held up one finger. "100 Hundred", he called out.
The crowd hushed, watching Syaoran’s intense scowling concentration as he looked straight down the arrows tip before shooting again. They awed as the arrow hit more center this time, another 100 points. Just eight more. I can’t get too cocky just yet, Pride comes before a downfall. He shot the next arrow and the next, always aiming for a long time before releasing the arrow into the air.
Sakura watched him with admiration. To get one bullseye is great, but this many in a row? He is amazing! It’s almost like the arrow card itself helps him. But it’s not, I can tell from his eyes he is doing this from deep down. He always does his absolute hardest at everything, no wonder he seems so perfect. Sakura pulled her eyes away from Syaoran and scanned the crowd behind him, looking for any trace of Syaoran2. A large bow moving through the crowd caught her eye. She craned her neck over the people to get a better glimpse. Amber hair and a scowl completed the picture. Oh no! Sakura ducked through the crowd and made her way around so she was trailing him a safe distance away. He’s going to see the other Syaoran any moment!
"Syaoran!" Sakura called, her franticness to keep him stalled spurring boldness.
Syaoran swung around, his eyes quickly fixing on Sakura. "There you are! I have been looking everywhere for you!"
Sakura smiled weakly, this bizarre situation baffling her mind. "um, yes, I know. Come here, follow me, I have to talk to you about something." Sakura grabbed his arm and started pulling him along.
"Can it wait a second? I have to go shoot. I’ll be right back!" Syaoran2 turned and walked with energy into the crowd, who were watching Syaoran1.
Sakura lept after him. "WAIT!" She screeched, and just in time.
Syaoran2 swung back around, alarmed by Sakura’s desperate tone of speech. Sakura didn’t think, but only acted. She grabbed him and hugged him tight, pretending to cry her heart out.
"I thought you were mad at me!" Sakura wailed, trying to fit in some sobs.
Syaoran 2 frowned, baffled (though Sakura couldn’t not see his facial expression for she was watching Syaoran1 shoot his last arrow by laying her head over Syaoran2’s shoulder.) "No Sakura, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. You were just doing what you thought was right." He said gently.
Sakura, still not really knowing exactly what had happened in between Sakura and Syaoran2, continued to wail. "It’s all my fault! It’s my fault!" She said hysterically. The announcer began speaking into the intercom about the last round. Sakura wailed in time with the words, keeping Syaoran2 from hearing how his copy did in the contest.
"Not it’s not! Don’t you ever think that!" Syaoran2 said quietly, patting her head.
Syaoran 1 walked out of the gate, looking proudly and defiantly for Sakura in the crowd. His grin told Sakura he must of managed a perfect round. Syaoran1 walked out of the crowd, looking a bit disappointed that he hadn’t seen Sakura. He looked around, then his shocked eyes noticed Sakura, who sobbed on Syaoran2’s shoulder.
Sakura met eyes, her eyes telling him to leave so she could stop her crying fit. Syaoran watched her for a second longer, a bit perplexed and bewildered at the sight of her crying onto his shoulders, but they weren’t really his own. He quickly rushed himself away, keeping his eye on Sakura and the other Syaoran as he walked.
Sakura, stopping her wailing on Syaoran2’s shoulder, quickly let go and ran toward Syaoran1. After she was a safe distance away, she crossed his path. "You are very hard to stop."
Syaoran grinned and kept walking, keeping his eyes ahead of him. "Yes, but it normally is a good thing. It didn’t look like you had any trouble stalling me." He grinned smugly ahead.
Sakura frowned, a bit taken aback by his boastful manner. "It was the only way you would stop! Don’t even assume I enjoyed it!"
Syaoran forced the grin off his face. "If you say so." Oh, to be Syaoran 2.
Sakura remained quiet for a while, a bit angry with Syaoran for his prideful assumption. He just assumes I like him. Maybe I don’t! All that aside, we better focus on getting these cards back without any trouble. Sakura finally spoke as the stopped to hand in Syaoran’s bow. "So did we win?"
"Thanks to me, yes, I beleive we did." He said happily.
Sakura rolled her eyes, getting irritated with the prideful manner he had taken. I should have never let him catch me hugging the other him, it went straight to his head. "Well when do we get the two cards for that category?"
Syaoran grinned yet again, and motioned at the stand they were approaching. It sparkled and glittered with bright lights, its lights all pointing to one attraction; the clow cards. The cards sat in several glass cases, all heavily gaurded with invisible lasers. A sign on the top of the tent read ‘prize claims’, however Sakura could not read the English very well. She scolded herself for not learning written English any sooner. She recognized a few letters, but those peices of the puzzle did not help her solve it.
"Prize claim." Syaoran said bluntly, as if reading her mind. He walked up to the counter and handed a stout man a ticket. The man inspected it carefully before taking out a key and going through a series of locks. He walked back to the counter, handing Syaoran two cards, the cards looking lively and ready for action.
Sakura quickly snatched them out of his hands and inspected them. Working cards! They are still good to use! She looked at the cards to see which they were. "Erase and Move." She said outloud.
Syaoran stared at them for a bit longer, then looked up. "We better get going, we can’t stay still for too long."
Sakura nodded and was about to leave when she felt a tug at the bottom of her pant leg.She looked down in alarm. "Kero!" She said in a hoarse whisper. Kero, half covered by the bottom of the tent, was gazing up at Sakura. Sakura bent down and picked him up, setting him in her pocket before looking around. She realized Syaoran was already walking a good ways off, not noticing he was unaccompanied. She ran after him.
"We have to go somewhere private!" Sakura whispered at him as they walked through the crowd. Syaoran looked at her curiously. "Back to the hotel, okay?" She said.
Syaoran shrugged and walked with the crowd for a while before breaking off and going towards the main street. They had a short walk before they were inside the hotel lobby. Sakura walked past the counter, straight for the elevator, waiting impatiently for Syaoran. Once he was in, she shut the door.
Kero fluttered out of her pocket, looking completely exhausted. Syaoran stared at Kero with a look of exstreme distraughtness. Kero ignored it and looked seriously at Sakura. "We skipped time while I was, uh, eating. I ended up somewhat near the clow cards, so I hung out there, hoping to see you come by."
Sakura nodded. She smiled and quickly yanked the cards out of her pocket. "Look! We got two cards back!" She held them up for Kero’s inspection.
Syaoran leaned impatiently on the side of the elevator, anxiously awaiting his depart from Kero and the small space that trapped them together. Little scoundrel. Probably stole a dozen orders of fries before trying to find us. He just gets in the way.
The door opened them to their level. Sakura withheld conversation until they were in their room. Syaoran looked around with sudden alarm. "The others must have bought this room in the span we were gone. We only bought one night, remember? That means they are planning to come back."
Kero looked at Syaoran with confusion. "Huh?"
Sakura looked at Kero with a sudden grave seriousness. "Kero, the twin card made doubles of you, Syaoran, and I. They are completely messing up our plans. Syaoran went in for the other Syaoran in the archery thing, because the second Syaoran was mad and could not shoot well."
Syaoran couldn’t help but have to smother a smile as he heard Sakura say his name so many times. Kero looked even more confused. "You mean, you have doubles? Oh no. This can’t be good."
Sakura nodded, a bit annoyed with his repitition of what they already knew. "Yes, we know that. What are we going to do?"
Syaoran looked at her incredously. "Isn’t it obvious? We’ll just use the erase card and erase them."
Sakura thought about this for a few moments, then shook her head. "No! We couldn’t do that! They are people, copies or not!"
"They are just copies. What good will it do the world to have two of the same person?"
Sakura shook her head. "How do we know they are the ones that are copies, and not us? They could be the originals just as easily as us."
Syaoran sighed, her logic making sense, but with very hard consequences. "We can’t just let two of us go on here. We have to get rid of them."
Sakura nodded, but with pleading eyes. "We can’t just decide which ones of us die!" Sakura cried.
Kero fluttered around, thinking the thing over carefully. Syaoran sat silent, knowing he could not win Sakura’s opinion over even if he debated for another year. Kero finally spoke. "We’d better get a plan before they get here and find us!"
Sakura nodded, glaring out the corner of her eye at Syaoran. Syaoran just sighed and walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a carrot from the fruit basket. Sakura went over to the window to see if she could find Sakura 2 in the mass of people.She looked down at a young woman and a man, arguing over something. The woman shouted something, making wild hand gestures. Sakura watched them with sympathy. The man shouted something back, then the woman slapped him across the face. Sakura sighed. I know how you feel. Syaoran could use a slap in the face sometimes. He’s not always as right as he thinks.
A door swung open, Sakura2 came storming in, not taking notice to the other three already in the room. She threw her things down on the bed and swung back around. Syaoran came rushing in. "But you were talking about how it was all your fault, don’t you remember?"
Sakura2 frowned. "No! No I did not! I was looking for you to tell you you were up next in the archery thing! You, I saw you! You BLEW our chances for winning the cards with that girl! I don’t care who she was, I don’t care at all! The only thing I am angry about is that you MISSED, completely missed your turn!" Sakura2 stopped her shouting, her face flushed red.
Syaoran2 gazed at her with a distraught confusion. He quickly pushed this feeling away. I have a right to be just as angry at her as she is at me. She has no right to yell at me like this! She won’t even listen to me! "If you won’t listen to me, than what good is it for me to argue? You obviously made it clear you won’t beleive me, whatever I say! I know when I am not needed, and I think now I am needed elsewhere. Good luck getting your cards!" Syaoran2 turned and walked out of the door, Sakura watching him go with an anger only Syaoran2 would start.
Sakura2 turned around, plopping herself on the huge bed. She sighed and layed out across the bed. Sakura2 froze, as if realization had hit her. Sakura2 shot up onto her feet and faced Syaoran and Sakura with wild eyes. Words failed her, and she just stared at them with a terrified confusion. "Wha-wah-wha-...."
Kero2 came mosying out of Sakura2’s pocket. "Boy that was quite an arguement, I could sure use something to ea-Oh my gaurdian beast there’s two of you!"
Sakura 1 was unsure of what to say to explain. Syaoran just glared at both of them, not sure of which to be angrier with. He felt sympathetic for Syaoran, he understood his fury completely, but then another part of him burned against Syaoran for talking so badly to Sakura, even if she was not his Sakura.
Kero1 smiled at the other Kero. "I am one handsome beast." He said, breaking the silence.
The second Kero stared at them in disbeleif. "I can’t beleive- the twin card." He said in sentence fragments.
Kero1 nodded. "Right again, steed, the twin card has been at work."
Sakura2 stared, working the evidence out in her mind. "The g-ghost used the twin card? Wha..."
Syaoran1 walked over to Sakura1. "Use the card now! We are in a room, it’s the perfect time to do it." He said in a low tone. Sakura2 watched them both carefully.
Sakura1 shook her head and looked at Syaoran. "We can’t! They are people! We can’t just erase them!"
Kero2 protested from his spot next to Sakura2. "Woah-ho-ho there. You don’t mean the erase card do you? I mean , come on, be reasonable, you can’t just erase me!" Kero tried vainly at a puppy dog smile.
Syaoran fought back. "Well we can’t just live with twins, you know?"
Kero1 lit up with an idea. "Wait a minute! Twin card-the twin card- I’m pretty sure about this; I don’t think the Twin card can produce something doubled with magic. That just wouldn’t be logical! All we have to find is the ones without the magical power."
Sakura 1 nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. Let’s get the other Syaoran back before he goes too far!"
Sakura 2 reluctantly nodded, and walked out of the room. He’s going to gloat and say I couldn’t stand not being with him. But how can I help what I saw? He was holding that girl right through his turn. Sakura2 tried to recal what the girl had looked like. Brown hair, short and up, that’s all I could see from the back. She had a purple sweatshirt and- Sakura looked with wide eyes down at her own shirt. It was me! Of course! My clone was the one! Sakura’s excitement quickly deflated. Wait a minute, he was right. No wonder he was so mad, I wouldn’t even listen to him, and the whole time he was trying to explain it was me he was holding. Sakura shot a glance behind her as she went into the elevator, trying to see Sakura1 inside her room. Just what was she doing? Did she think he was the other Syaoran? I guess they are the same, but ...This is going to be horrible, I don’t want to go get Syaoran!
The elevator opened and Sakura jumped out, heading straight for the door. No sign of Syaoran in the lobby. Sakura walked out into the street, but still didn’t see him. If I was Syaoran, where would I be?
"I knew you wouldn’t last." A voice from behind Sakura2 startled her, and she turned around surprised to find Syaoran2 on the what was an empty street.
Sakura2 frowned and took her defense. "That’s not true!I wouldn’t have come back for you, but I had to. Your doubles want you."
Syaoran2 frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"The twin card, it doubled us. You were, uh, talking to the other Sakura. So I was right too." Sakura2 said.
"Where are our doubles?" Syaoran asked.
"Up in our room. I guess you didn’t notice as you were leaving." Sakura thought about her own words. Would he have really left me to get the clow cards on my own? How could he? I mean, its not like I really need his help, but...
Syaoran2 was already inside waiting for the elevator, so Sakura2 jogged in to catch up. They stood in the elevator quietly, Syaoran2 thinking, and Sakura2 trying to deal with her feelings. The elevator finally reached their floor, and Sakura jumped out, anxious to get out of the elevator and back into a larger group of people. She stopped and surveyed the room. Kero 1 and 2 were chatting about their strategies for space destroyer (though they were all the same), Sakura 1 sat looking out the window, and Syaoran1 was sprawled out on his back in front of the fire, throwing an apple towards the ceiling. Sakura 2 felt out of place, so she sat down on the corner of the bed.
Syaoran 2 came in, looking with his penetrating eyes at the room. Seemingly disgusted with the laziness that had taken over, Syaoran2 took charge. "So have we found which ones of us do not have magic?"
Syaoran 1 sat up, throwing the apple back into the fruit basket. "Well it must be us. Sakura used magic a while ago, and I used my magic in a roundabout way with the time card."
"But can’t we just make sure?" Sakura 2 pleaded, hopping off the bed.
Sakura 1 nodded. "We can’t just get rid of them. Can’t we go back in time or something?"
Syaoran 1 shook his head. "No, we’ve been over this. The same thing would happen. Unless they want to take secret identities, we have to erase them."
Syaoran 2’s eyes burned furiously. "What if we erase you first?"
Syaoran 1 stood up and stood eye to eye with his double. "I’d like to see you try. Using cards without any magic is a pretty useless activity."
Both Syaorans grabbed ward cards from their sleeves and held them at each other. Sakura 1 ran over and parted them. "Be reasonable! Neither of you can use magic without my help anyway, remember?"
Syaoran 1 glared at Sakura for her stinging words. "So you blow him out the window." He mumbled as he shoved his wind card back into his pocket.
Sakura 2 walked over to the three. "Well this isn’t getting us anywhere."
Sakura 1 almost jumped in place as an idea hit her. She whipped out the clow cards that they had won and quickly got her star staff. "Return card, I command you to return all of the clow cards to their rightful owner, I, Sakura the Cardmistress! Return card!" The return card made its way out of the room at lightening speed, and Sakura happily watched the clow cards land at her feet, one by one. After a large pile had developed, the return card jumped back into the card. Sakura 1 lept down and started counting the cards. Syaoran 1 helped.
"Twenty Three!" Syaoran called.
"Twenty Nine!" Sakura said, already trying to process the numbers in her head. "That’s all of them! All fifty two!" She looked down proudly at the cards, very pleased with herself.
Sakura2 stood quietly. What does that mean? Does that mean they can just erase us like that? That’s not fair. She looked over at Syaoran 2, who stood with a solemn look. "We could move somewhere no one knows us! Couldn’t we? We don’t have to die!" She cried.
Syaoran 2 kept his eyes on the cards they were picking up. "We’d have to spread out. But do you really want to live on your own?"
Sakura 2 watched him with dispair. "Why couldn’t I stay with you?" She asked softly.
Syaoran 2 finally dragged his eyes up from the cards. A slightly softened look took to the corners, but he still kept his serious approach. "No. If they will even let us doubles live, we can’t stay in one spot. That would be too obvious."
Sakura2 was taken aback by these hard to accept words. " I can’t just live completely on my own! How could you leave me like that?"
Syaoran2 stared back at the cards, hiding his deep hurt from Sakura’s words. I’d never leave you. "I’d have to, beleive me, it’s not my choice." Knowing that these words didn’t make it better, he continued. "You could make friends Sakura, you know you could. You are a very nice person, people like you." He paused, trying to avoid the sure streaming tears falling down her face. "I’ll go as far north as I can, you go south."
Sakura2 shook her head. "There has to be another way!" She persisted. "Don’t accept it so easily! There is so many people in the world, I am sure we can find somewhere to go unnoticed!"
Sakura 1 tried to hide the tears going into the corners of her own eyes, sympathetic ones, meant for Sakura and Syaoran2. She picked up the move card from her side. Since her star staff was already out, Sakura held it to the card. "Move card, move these two to the most pleasant place on this western hemisphere! Go!" The Move card made Sakura and Syaoran disappear, then the move card flew back into its card. Sakura looked at it sadly. Syaoran was about to offer consolation when an obnoxious voice broke the revered silence.
"You forgot ME!" One of the keros flew hysterically around.
Sakura sighed and used her move card again, a bit annoyed with Kero for breaking the sad moment. "So they can never use magic again?"
Syaoran one nodded. He gave a weak smile. "But at least they are in the most pleasant place on earth, thanks to you."
Sakura shrugged. I can’t help but keep thinking about how easily that Syaoran would have accepted his fate without me. If they are both the same, what does that mean? Maybe he is not the friend I once thought he was? Sakura held up the move card one last time. "Move card, I command you to return us home!" Sakura grabbed Kero close, making sure not to leave him behind as well. All her cards were shoved into her pockets. Sakura tingled all over from the sensation of being moved. She felt like she was falling and flying at the same time. The sensation quickly ended with a thud, as she landed onto her hard wood floor. Syaoran landed beside her, grimacing as his already bruised back hit the floor. He glared at Sakura.
"This is not my home." He said.
Sakura smiled weakly. "I am sorry, I just wanted to get home so badly-"
Syaoran nodded. Sakura jumped up from her seat and smiled proudly. "Bob’s becoming a butterfly!"
Syaoran got up slowly, trying to save his stomach and back from already more pain. "What?" He asked, still a bit disoriented from the light speed travel.
Sakura pointed excitedly. "Look, look!" She squeaked. She grabbed a jar off her desk and held it in Syaoran’s face. "Bob the bug! Bob’s in a cocoon!"
Syaoran quickly stepped back. "Oh, uh,...neat." He tried to differ his attention somewhere else. Well at least the thing can’t crawl on me again.
Sakura pranced around with the jar, showing it to Kero, who seemed a much better audience then Syaoran. Kero looked at Sakura with a bit of concern.
"You better not get too attached, once it’s a butterfly, it won’t last long." Kero said, putting sympathy into his voice.
"Well then, we will have to celebrate his becoming a cocoon like it’s his last birthday. Right?"
Kero nodded, happy Sakura found a light in the sad affair. "Good idea." Kero lit up. "Yes, and a nice large birthday cake for the little guy!"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "For him or for you?"
Kero laughed sheepishly. "uh...Say look outside! No snow!"
Sakura nodded. "You are right. But that doesn’t mean anything. I still don’t have many of the cards in my control, whether I have them or not. The g-gho, well they are being controlled." Sakura couldn’t bring herself to say ‘ghost’ in this room, especially since the window was still covered with a tarp waiting for repair since the ghost’s last attack.
Syaoran was tapping his foot on the ground, deeply concentrating on something.
"What are you doing?" Sakura asked curiously, now in a much better mood since they were home.
Kero stared incredously at Syaoran. "I knew it. The brat was going to go hysterics someday, anyone could tell."
Sakura glared at Kero. Syaoran ignored Kero and continued on. "Listen-" He tapped his foot on the floor. "No echo. Time is frozen here."
Sakura frowned. "What!?" Her voice did seem to be lost within the air. "But when was it frozen?"
Syaoran shrugged, pulling the tarp off of the sides of Sakura’s window. "Only one way to tell." Syaoran lept over to the tree, swinging down lightly to the ground. This time he did not wait for Sakura on the tree, figuring she might knock him off like the time before. Sakura looked at the tree with determination, flung herself out, and closed her hands around the branch. She swung wildly, but at least I caught myself, she thought. She plopped to the ground and looked up proudly. Syaoran was already heading down the road.
Sakura ran after him. After walking a while in silence, Sakura realized the fimiliar route they were walking. "Where are we going?"
Syaoran yanked off a sweatshirt, obviously not needed in this fall weather. "The school." Syaoran looked down and tried to hide his blush as he pulled off the next layer also, a very vibrant pink sweatshirt.
Kero, of course, noticed the sweatshirt. "Kiya!! Hahaha why on earth do you still have that thing on!?"
Syaoran cursed grumpily under his breath and kept walking. Sakura waited for silence again before asking another question. "Do you think everyone might still be camping?"
Syaoran nodded.
Sakura shook her head. "But when we left, we were in daylight. The earliest this could be is that night, after we got lost."
Syaoran nodded. "I know. I don’t quite understand it myself, but it’s my best guess."
They walked through the school gates and went into the locked building using the luckily still working Through card. They walked down to the nearest classroom and walked in. They headed straight for the calendar.
"Yes! You must be right! We left that Monday, didn’t we?" Sakura asked excitedly.
Syaoran nodded. "Let’s move ourselves to the camp, shall we?"
Sakura nodded. She paused before using the card. "Why is the ghost letting us do these things so easily?"
Syaoran thought before answering. "Honestly, I think its a game for her. I don’t know what she has against you, but obviously it must be something pretty bad."
Sakura nodded. She continued with the Move card. It set them down more gently this time, setting them near a warm fire-a fire that was frozen in place shelled with ice-waiting to burn again. Frozen teachers and supervisors stood around the fire, glued to the ground where they stood. Sakura smiled and looked around, so glad to see fimiliar faces, even if they were frozen. A sound of movement quickly raised her attention. Syaoran had noticed it immediatly and acted almost simontaneously, ducking behind a tent and making his way silently to the noise’s origin. He saw all he needed to see. "Trent! Rika!" He called out.
Two figured emerged, watching Syaoran with wide eyes. Rika looked at him with amazement. "Syaoran!" She said, as if to convince herself he was really there. She ran up to him an hugged him. Syaoran squirmed out of her grasp, much like he would with Meilin. This didn’t change Rika’s mood, however, and she smiled brilliantly. "We aren’t the only ones alive! We flew here, it was all a blur, but people were just frozen! Frozen! Did you see them? It was horrible! And we thought you guys were long gone, after you were lost in the woods for that day." Trent walked over, releif on his face. Sakura walked out from where she had been hiding. Generally she would be jealous of someone hugging Syaoran, but she could understand Rika’s situation.
Sakura walked over next to Syaoran. "Um, can you guys excuse us for one minute?" Sakura asked in her politest manner. Rika looked at Sakura a bit hurt and misunderstood, but did her best to return the politeness. She nodded.
Sakura turned around and Syaoran did the same. "How can we fix everything with them here?" She asked in a whisper.
Syaoran shrugged. "Easy. We’ll just use a memory charm or something. No big deal."
Sakura thought about this. "So it doesn’t matter what they hear now, right, cause they will have their memory cleared out soon enough?"
Syaoran nodded.
Sakura turned back around, smiling at Rika and Trent. "Time is frozen. We have to unfreeze it, okay?"
Syaoran stepped in. "First we have to put a spell on you so you don’t get lost in time; it won’t hurt or anything, it’s just a precaution. Alright?"
Rika and Trent looked at them a bit scared, but both nodded. Syaoran nodded at Sakura. "Sleep card." He whispered at her.
Sakura frowned and obeyed, not really sure what they were doing. She put both Rika and Trent to sleep and then looked back at Syaoran. "I don’t understand, I thought the memory charm would let them see all this stuff."
Syaoran nodded. "But it will be much easier to use the memory charm on them now while all the people are frozen, right?"
Sakura smiled and nodded. "Right." She pulled Kero from her pocket. "Kero, after we fix time, you gotta stay where I put you, okay?"
Kero nodded. "Is Tomoyo here?" At Sakura’s nod, Kero smiled. "FOOD!" Kero said excitedly.
Sakura stuffed him back into her pocket and looked at Syaoran. "I don’t know how to do this memory charm. You can, right?"
Syaoran nodded. "I think so, anyway." He added under his breath. Syaoran incanted something. Some light shot around and stuff, looking like a magic spell. Syaoran stopped talking and opened his eyes. "Let’s hope that worked." Syaoran’s knees started to give, a sure sign his magic power was now drained. There goes the extra magic Sakura gave me. Syaoran leaned over his knees to conserve energy.
Sakura, who would normally be concerned, looked very frantic. "We don’t have the Time card under control! How are we going to fix this!?"
Syaoran looked up alarmed, trying to hide his fear. "You are right. Well-"
A jolt in the ground came on cue, the ground gave a few shudders, and then noise became loud and clear again. There was a sudden warmth, and the bonfire was visible above the tent tops. Sakura frowned. "Why would she-"
A rustling in the tent closest to her caught Sakura’s attention. "Sakura! Syaoran!" Tomoyo came running out of her tent in her rather unstylish pajamas. Tomoyo came running over and hugged both of them at the same time. Syaoran grimaced, and when Tomoyo let go, he had to put extra effort to keep himself on his feet. Sakura unconsciously steadied him with one hand. "Tomoyo, you’ll never beleive what-"
A teacher came running over, panic written all over his face. "Are you alright?" He called as he was still a good distance away. Sakura and Syaoran both nodded, though Syaoran was still leaning heavily on Sakura’s hand. Tomoyo tapped Sakura’s shoulder. She pointed behind them, where Rika and Trent lay fast asleep on the ground. Sakura didn’t have time to act, as the teacher reached them. The teacher immediately noticed the two laying behind them, and a mortified look came across his face. "Oh please don’t tell me,..." He ran over and checked their pulse. The bustling noises were enough to wake Rika and Trent up, although they were very groggy.
Rika slowly went into sitting position. Syaoran quickly made a plan. "Be careful Rika, you two had a hard fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were sore. You fell just after we got out of the river, remember? Turns out we weren’t as lost as we thought, we all got here on the same day." He said.
Sakura nodded, fervently agreeing with his story. The teacher looked at all of them warily. "Well, I am sure the nurse will send you right home. Come with me." He paused. "Can you walk?" All four of them nodded, Rika and Trent getting to their feet.
They walked slowly with the teacher to the bonfire, where the majority of the teachers were. The nurse ran over when she spotted them. She looked them over once and made her mind up. "I’m sorry kids, but you need your rest. We are going to have to bring you home." While Rika and Trent were disappointed, Sakura was happy to hear she could finally go home after this long week. Syaoran seemed pleased too.
The rest of the trip was kind of like sleepwalking for Sakura. She remembered barely the walk to the ATV. All she knew was they rode on some type of open terrain vehichle until they reached a road, where several cars were parked. She must have fallen asleep in the car, for the next thing she knew she was in the school parking lot. The nurse opened the door and got out. "I am just going to be a few minutes, I am going to call your houses to make sure someone’s home." She said crabbily.
Syaoran woke from his daze at her words. No one is home at my apartment. I gave Wei the days we were camping off. Syaoran frowned. Well she can’t do anything, can she? She’ll just drop me off anyway, right? After a while, the nurse returned. "All of your parents were home except yours, Li Syaoran. You’ll have to come back to the school and stay with me until your parents arrive home." The words hit him like a block of bricks. I don’t want to stay at the school!
Sakura looked over at him sympathetically. The horrified look he was masking showed Sakura all she needed to know. I can’t just let him go with her-Sakura cast a glance at the nurse’s not so sympathetic expression. I have to help him-I dragged him all the way to America, I shouldn’t get him dragged to the school for a night or two. Just before the nurse started the car, Sakura forced herself to speak. "If Syaoran’s parents aren’t home, he’s allowed to come to my house. My father knows his family." Sakura said, adding the lie at the end as a desperate measure.
The nurse eyed Sakura. "I’m not supposed to give these kids to anyone but the written authorities- the ones on the slips you handed in for the trip."
Sakura tried to use the nurse’s weak point to her advantage-something she must have learned from Syaoran. "But I think his parents would much rather him get the proper sleep in a normal bed rather than staying in a school all night." That’s it, make her think about the long night she’d have to spend as well. Sakura coaxed herself.
The nurse slowly gave in. "Well, I suppose. I don’t like this though, not one bit. Next time, have her parents down as emergency backups, okay?" The nurse said to Syaoran. He nodded quietly, a bit shocked with Sakura’s bold rescue. They drove along silently in the dark to Rika’s house, then to Trents. Sakura’s house wasn’t too far down the street, and they quickly reached it. Syaoran and Sakura got out of oposite seats and shut the doors, then walked up to Sakura’s door.
"Thanks." Syaoran said monotonously, then turned and started walking down the road. Sakura looked after him with confusion.
"Where are you going?"
Syaoran turned around, a bit confused. "I thought I could go back to my house-er, I mean-" He stopped himself at the slightly hurt look on Sakura’s face.
Sakura tried to hide it and forced a smile. "Oh, no, that’s fine." She said.
The obvious disappointment in her voice kept Syaoran from moving. "I don’t think your family would appreciate me coming so unninvited." He said, trying to get himself excused politely so he could walk home.
Sakura brightened a bit. "Is that why you don’t want to come? Nonsense! My father likes you, and Touya-well...I think inside he likes you too! Come on, you don’t want to walk all the way to your empty apartment , anyway?"
Syaoran sighed, seeing there would be no winning this night. "I guess." He mumbled and reluctantly followed Sakura inside. Sakura’s father stood in front of the oven. "Hello Sakura! Are you alright?" Her father noticed Syaoran, but waited for Sakura to reintroduce them.
"I’m fine, really. We didn’t need to come home, I don’t think, but it’s alright." Sakura hugged her dad tight, it had seemed an eternity since she had last seen him.
Syaoran shuffled his feet, tired of going unnoticed. Sakura quickly remembered. "Oh! Dad, this is Syaoran-You have met him before-"
"Yes, I remember." Her dad cut in, smiling kindly at Syaoran.
Sakura nodded, then continued. "Well no one was home at his house, and I didn’t want him and the nurse to have to stay at school all night, so I hope its alright if he stays here?"
Her father smiled again, that hearty smile. "Of course! I am making eggs for anyone that wants some."
Sakura smiled. "Sounds great!"
Sakura stood quiet for a moment, then realized they still had their bags. She grabbed on of Syaoran’s off the floor and walked into the living room. "We can just put these in here for now." She threw her stuff down to the ground, and Syaoran did after she was done. Sakura yawned and looked over at a clock. Much to her surprise, it was still only early night. Sakura tried to determine whether she was more hungry or more sleepy. I think I could fall asleep eating. I better just tell dad to wait and cook them in the morning. Sakura walked over to her dads side. "Dad, I am really tired- maybe we could eat the eggs tommorrow morning?"
Her dad nodded. "Sure!" He turned off the burner and put the grittle to the side. "Your window still needs to be fixed-I think you’ll both be stuck on couches tonight."
Sakura nodded. "That’s fine." She said through a large yawn.
Her father dragged out some blankets and pillows and layed them across the two couches. "This should be alright, it’s not supposed to get very cold tonight." Her father left the room, turning off all the lights except one small Sakura hugged her father good night, then spread out her blankets on the couch. Once she was satisfied with the blanket layout, she collapsed on the couch. Syaoran was already laying down, his back turned to her. Sakura sighed. He didn’t want to come here. Why did I try to help him? He didn’t want my help.
Sakura finally had time to digest everything that had happened so quickly in the short time span of a week and a few days. "Syaoran?" She dared to speak.
"Hmm?" His voice was hardly audible through the blankets muffling it.
"Do you think our doubles-Do you think they could ever be happy without magic?" Sakura asked quietly.
"Mhmm." Syaoran replied.
Sakura stayed quiet for a moment. "Will their Kero ever be able to transform?"
"Uh-uh."
Sakura stayed quiet a bit longer, wishing he would answer more intelligently. "Syaoran?" She said after a while.
"Hmm?" He said, more grumpily.
"Would you have left me if I hadn’t gotten the cards?"
Syaoran was quiet for a long time. What kind of a question is that? That’s unfair, isn’t it? Should I answer. Sakura turned over, figuring he wouldn’t answer, but his voice broke the uncomfortable silence. "No-"Syaoran stopped his answer, realizing Sakura had already fallen asleep. He sighed and rolled back onto his back, quickly falling asleep.
____________________________________________________________
When Sakura woke up the next morning, Syaoran was gone, his blankets were folded, and the pillows were all in proper position. Sakura forced herself up and walked over to the clock. It was already past noon the next day! Sakura dragged her feet up the stairs and went into her drafty room, looking for some nice fall clothes. Kero fluttered over from her bare mattress, stretching. "I could have slept for hours!" Kero remarked.
Sakura pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. "You did."
Kero ignored her and fluttered over to the tarped window, looking outside. The air was not cold or warm, but somewhere in the middle. A breeze was blowing, however, and the sky was covered with thick clouds. The clouds moved quickly, ever changing in the large sky. Sakura closed the door to her room and pulled on her jeans, then put the sweatshirt over her shirt. Kero motioned for her to come look outside.
"No, Kero-chan, I don’t want to look. I have seen enough outdoors to last me the next eight months." Sakura said. Sakura walked over to her desk and studied Bob’s cocoon. "So Bob will live for a couple months when he becomes a butterfly, right?"
Kero shook his head. "Maybe a week."
Sakura looked down, dismayed. "A week." She said to herself. How could I let myself get so attached to a bug? Sakura thought about those words she had just thought, and decided to ask Kero. "How come I got so attached to a bug?"
Kero chuckled. "Well, I agree Syaoran could definatly resemble a large praying mantis, but you didn’t have to say it outloud."
"Kero!" Sakura scolded him.
"Okay, alright. Well, I think it’s because your bug is special to you for some strange reason. A memory of the bug makes you happy. Wait a minute-" Kero turned gravely serious. "Did that brat give you a BUG?"
Sakura could only help but smile weakly. In a matter of speaking. "NO Kero." Sakura stopped speaking there.
Kero flew over to Sakura’s TV and gasped. "AAAAAHHH!"
Sakura jumped up and ran over to Kero. "What is it, Kero!?"
Kero, too horified to speak, pointed silently at the broken nintendo, slashed in two with a large chard of glass-probably from the window that had broken so many weeks ago. Sakura shook her head. "It was only a matter of time, anyway. Christmas is two months away, Kero, I am sure I will get a new one then."
Sakura pulled Kero away, dragging him back downstairs. She grabbed a book out of a large stack sitting in the corner, then sat down on her couch, satisfied to escape and rest from all the things that had been happening to them. Her mind would often wonder, thinking on the same question. He never answered me. Would he have left me or not? What good is it to have an unloyal friend? That is useless.
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The rest of that school week went the same, Sakura reading, watching TV, playing games with Kero. There was none of the excitement that had cluttered her life before. Sakura felt uncontent and isolated in her home, knowing all the kids her age were at the camping trip. She forced herself to enjoy the time off, though it did not work too well.
A few times she considered checking on Syaoran to make sure he was handling his cut well, but nervousness prevented her from following through. Sakura was happy to wake up the next Monday morning, the fifth of November, to go to school.
She left on time that morning, a bit over anxious to see her friends. The clouds in the sky were much like the day she and Kero had been in her room. Sakura’s cheerful attitude was dulled by the weather, but she was still most anticipating seeing one person.
She got to school just as it started to rain. She was just speckled with water, but it didn’t bother her. She walked to her locker, keeping her eyes looking around for Tomoyo or Syaoran. Seeing neither, she opened her locker and stuffed her things into her tiny locker space, and grabbed her things for math class. Syaoran sits near me in that class. I hope he’ll be nicer to me now that we went throug all those things. How could he not be unnchanged? Sakura walked into the classroom, where only a few kids were sitting down, talking to each other. She sighed and walked over to her seat, pulling out her latest unfinnished novel to keep her busy. The classroom started to fill up with kids. Rika was entertaining Chiharu and her other friends with her story about what happened when she got lost. They hung on every word, thought many were inaccurate. Sakura couldn’t help but feel neglected as no one had come to hear the story from her point of veiw.
Sakura saw Tomoyo’s unbound wavy hair swirl into the classroom. She walked over and sat next to Sakura. "You have to tell me what happened! I was dying the whole rest of the trip!"
Sakura nodded. "It’s a long story-very long." She said, happy to talk to someone.
Tomoyo persisted. "But it couldn’t have been that long-you were gone for a couple hours!"
Sakura grinned. "Or so you think!"
Tomoyo looked at her curiously, but the bell rang. The teacher came into the classroom on cue, and immediatly began a boring lecture. Syaoran came panting in, soaked, and tried to, as quietly as he could, take his seat without being noticed. The math sensei, an old man, Mr. Dwinowar, gave Syaoran a detention without ever looking at him. Syaoran plopped into his seat, not ever looking at Sakura. After talking for a while, the sensei had students do example equations on the board.
Syaoran was given a problem Sakura had no idea had to do. After scribbling out the solution, he mumbled an explanation. "To find the midpoint of two fractions, you use the equation A + 1/2 (B-A). So to find the midpoint of 5/9 and 9/7, you just use that formula and you get 71/126." Sakura stared cluelessly at his work. The senseii seemed to swell with pride as he watched his smart student sit down.
"Sakura." The sensei said sharply. She walked up to the board and found her problem, and was happily releived to find a problem she knew how to do. "To find the square root of 250, you factor 25 times 10, then you get 5 the square root of 10."
The sensei nodded and called out the next kid behind Sakura. She sat down, wiping her sweaty hands on her uniform pants. "Great job!" Tomoyo whispered from beside Sakura. Sakura smiled gratefuly for the compliment.
She sat back in her chair, ready for lunch to come.
_______________________________________________
Lunch came and went. Sakura explained to Tomoyo what had happened, using choice wording around certain parts. Tomoyo was not convinced that nothing happened between Sakura and Syaoran, but she had dropped the subject for now.
The rest of the day went along blindingly fast. Sakura walked home with Tomoyo, but both were relativly untalkative. Sakura had not said even one word to Syaoran that day, neither the other way around. How come we never talk in school? The only time we ever talk is when there’s magic going on. What does that mean? Probably that the only reason he is ever your friend is because you have magic. And he’s not even your friend.
"Sakura?" Tomoyo’s voice repeated.
Sakura looked up, trying to cheer herself up. "What?"
Tomoyo smiled and laughed lightly. "I said you are going to walk right by your house. Are you okay?"
Sakura smiled and shook her head. "I think I need another nap! I’m sorry. Thank you Tomoyo, I will see you tommorrow!"
Tomoyo laughed as she continued on her way.
Sakura entered her house, surprised to see her dad already home. Touya sat across from her father, their faces solemn. Sakura dropped her bags immediatly and ran over to them. "What’s wrong?" She asked.
Touya sighed and began talking. "Did you ever meet your Uncle Guan?"
Sakura shook her head slowly. "Not that I can remember..."
"Sakura, we’ve been talking about this for a while," Sakura’s dad cut in. "And we decided that we are going to be staying at your uncles house for a while, until he’s...better. He has gotten very sick and is having trouble taking care of himself. You will still be able to go to school, but we will be living in his house for a while." Her father paused and smiled. "I am sure you’ll love his house-it’s big and old."
Sakura smiled fakely. The ghost is gonna kill me. Big old house, what could be better? I got moved across the world and stuck in time, but no, that was not enough, I have to be sent to my death. "Sounds great! When do we leave?"
Touya glanced at his father for verification. "If we are ready fast enough, tommorrow."
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Okay another long chapter but hey, I had lots of time on my hands. I think these next chapters are gonna be really cool. Some friction with the S + S, what can I say, I enjoy stretching out the feelings and confusion for as long as I can. Well, that’s it, I am gonna try to get a start on the next chapter. Visit my site at www.geocities.com/KeanusHorseChic or email me at [email protected]
I do this for the fans! Keep up the emails! (lol- if I did do it for the fans, I would have two chapters done)
-Syaoran Fan 4 Life